Adelaide naturopath Lynn Riedel said when she first began working in the health industry in a pathology laboratory in 1971 the common sperm count was greater than 80 million per millilitre.

"These days a common count is 20 million per ml," Lynn said.

Several studies have been carried out to determine why counts have fallen so dramatically.

Lynn believes it could be the introduction of several things over the past four decades that may have resulted in the decline.

"There was one recent study done that showed that the fertility dropped by 30 percent in men who carried mobile phones close to their body, and particularly close to the lower part of their body."

It's common practice for men to carry mobile phones in their hip pockets.

With the modern smart phone transferring signal transmissions, Bluetooth and wifi continually, storing the phone in a different place could make all the difference.

"Sperm cells are the smallest cells in the body and so they are much more susceptible to things like toxic influences."

With 50 percent of the DNA provided by the male partner, Lynn said the same amount of attention to diet and lifestyle should be shown as what is currently is seen for females.

"If you can work on the male within a three or four month period before they actually try to become pregnant with their partner, you can really spruce up the quality of the sperm."

From a 'dud to a stud' in four months

Although it might mean making many lifestyle changes, Lynn said there was actually quite a few things men could do easily to help boost their fertility rates.

By having a look at their diets and placing unprocessed and untreated foods on their plates was one easy and healthy step men could make.

"Putting good, organic food into the body if at all possible, to reduce the pesticides and the chemicals in the food that we eat, and so reducing a lot of the common hormone disrupters that go into the body."

Reducing or limiting toxic influences to the body, such as not keeping a mobile phone close to the groin region, can also help.

Keeping active and reducing obesity can also help to boost testosterone and reduce oestrogen levels.

Lynn said other changes such as removing alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and stress from the daily lives might prove more difficult for some, but the offshoot could be a higher sperm count and easier conception for a struggling couple.

"The rate of unknown infertility is very high in Australia these days, so there are a lot of factors impacting on the quality of sperm, so it is good to just have a look at all of those things and address as many issues as you possibly can.

"The good news is that you can turn a dud into a stud in about four months," Lynn said.